Trouble logging in?If you can't remember your password or are having trouble logging in, you will have to reset your password. If you have trouble resetting your password (for example, if you lost access to the original email address), please do not start posting with a new account, as this is against the forum rules. If you create a temporary account, please contact us right away via Forum Support, and send us any information you can about your original account, such as the account name and any email address that may have been associated with it.

I wouldn't call it 'lonely' so much as looked-down-upon by non-fans. Many people who aren't fans of anime tend to call anyone interested in it 'weeaboo' or wapanese or whatever, I find, or just think they're losers in general. And I'm not talking about the kinds of fans who go overboard, it's just that I find, lately, anyone who likes anime at all is considered a weeaboo. :/

But of course, if one hangs out with fellow anime fans or with people who don't act like that, there's nothing lonely about it. Just mildly annoying. ^^

You realize we have to tie you up and beat you for saying "w---boo"
(the original form of the game)

Non-fans who like to label and dismiss basically fail at thinking (and there are anime fans who also fail at thinking for essentially the same reason). Just try not to waste time with such people and focus on those people who think.

It can be lonely if you like to discuss/talk about it with other people, and they don't know what your talking about!
That's what forums are for though!
I watch most of it with my wife, even the ecchi shows, so it's not that lonely for me.

I'd say it's lonely in the sense that I don't share my liking of it with most of my friends... and the fact that I seem to have a radically different taste in anime than the mainstream fandom around these parts (which is part of the reason I can't stand cons).

I've met a lot of people who've watched Haruhi and thought it was the greatest thing since bread and butter, but I've yet to meet a single person besides my best friend who's watched Baccano, for example--even though I'm convinced no one can dislike such a brilliant series.

The things I said also apply to other things, like taste in music and movies. Which doesn't make them lonely hobbies per se but it makes me less likely to talk about them with people since most don't really share my tastes.

__________________

Place them in a box until a quieter time | Lights down, you up and die.

a large number of animu specific values and attitudes are socially anathema, at least in respectable civil society. the usual scenarios found in animu are also catering to defunct lifestyles and psychological needs that are antisocial. it is mostly a solitary and fantastic pursuit best done in the darkness of one's private basement. that is unless your friends have the same low taste that lead them to tolerate this 'hobby'

I heartily agree with solomon's post that it's only as lonely as you make it to be. Both via actions and thoughts.

In my own case, I could easily find lots of people to watch anime with - it's not a particularly anti-social or minor hobby here the way it is in some Western countries, plus this place is tiny. Heck, the Japanese club we had in high school felt more like an excuse to watch anime, and it wasn't small (what was really sad was that people genuinely interested in Japanese culture - but not anime - were turned off) And you should've seen the hordes turning up for that animu convention thing last year.

Even among classmates without an iota of interest in Japan and otherwise cardboard-like teachers, there's enough who have watched at least a few in their spare time. Not all of them are necessarily hardcore, going to forums to discuss and all that, but anime is anime...

However, 97% of the time I watch anime on my own - I haven't found anyone IRL here who's got similar tastes to me, and I far prefer watching stuff on my own at my own pace anyway. (Also, there's some shows you wouldn't WANT to watch with others.)

I'd never think it was a lonely hobby though, since I find more than enough avenues to talk about it online and, most importantly, I'd quite readily talk about the same stuff IRL - if there was anyone who wanted to listen. Just because I talk to few people about it IRL doesn't make it lonely at all, IMHO.

I second or rather third solomon's post. It is up to your own actions that make anime seem like a lonely hobby. When you tend to watch anime on the internet, well usually you sit by yourself staring at the computer screen.

__________________

It's time to start letting her make her own decisions. - Mom's dermatologist~

Definitely no. If i wanted to talk about anime, all I have to do is join an anime club of some sorts.
And if you are not in school there are plenty offline anime club meetings out there you can easily find. Unless you live in some rural areas.

As for me, in my life drawing class there are alot of people majoring animation. And you can safely bet like at least 1/3 of people who major animation likes anime to certain degree.

I watch anime by myself almost always. Same with documentaries, a lot of tv shows, etc.

It is usually the character of the viewer, not the anime itself that is dictating the anime watcher's life style.

Nah, not really. I think anime attracts introverted people to begin with so it's like voluntary seculusion. And plus, with the forums, cons, and general RL friends I have I do talk about anime every now and then though.

Plus, I have other rather socially-active hobbies as well (volunteering, swimming, paper, etc.) so it balances out >D

For me is lonely, but I like it that way. I've always been a bit bit anti-social I supose, not causing unrest, I've just always liked my own company.

Anime, and J-pop are two things in my life that pretty much stay with me alone. Every now and then I'll lend a dvd to one of my friends as he dosen't mind the odd anime, but he'd never "get" most of it. Theres woman who I work with who sees me as her anime guy, she had been into anime for about a year and hadn't seen much (she didn't even know about manga), I've lent her loads. We have are lunch break at the same time and pretty much talk anime through it. Infact she was very funny when I told her I went to the Ghibli musum when I went to Japan. You could say she is a ghibli fan, I've never seen a person go green with envy before.

With any hobby, one can choose whether or not they want to share that hobby with others. If one wants to be a lone anime watcher, so be it; if one wants to have anime watching parties, then let it be so.

Personally, I'm alone watching fansubs and anime that aren't well known in my country. But a lot of the people around me are very well versed in anime that are popular in the States, like Bleach and Death Note. When it comes to those things, I'm left out. :P I still talk to them about it, though.